[linux-audio-user] soundfonts and samplers

[John Check]

On Thursday 12 August 2004 05:41 am, LinuxMedia wrote:
> >>other problem i think ill encounter is that sequencers
> >>cant record the audio directly from your soundcards
> >>wavetable... (please correct if im wrong)...
> >
> > Oh, I don't think that is a problem, most soundcards have a selectable
> > input, you can generally set it to record from several sound sources,
> > including the wavetable.
>
> I don't know what card you have, but I have a soundblaster and just
> loaded up a soundfont to the wave table with "sfxload"... used kaconnect

Not all soundblasters have a wavetable though, and not all those that do
are supported bysfxload/asfxload

> to connect the midi keyboard to the wavetable... went to an xterm and
> stared alsamixer... set the capture on "Music" in alsamixer (left and
> right arrow keys to move around... and the spacebar to choose "capture",
> you'll see "CAPTUR" at the top of the "Music" control). Then I raised
> the levels on "Music Ca" in alsamixer. I used ecasound to record the the
> output of the wavetable to an audio file.
>

Yes, the emu10k1 chipset has a nightmare mixer. It's actually got 2, one for 
the digital domain and an AC97 codec for analog. Or something. Most GUI 
mixers don't have all the controls. Gamix does

> It never seems to be that easy though. The controls are pretty confusing
> and there always seems to be a control that needs to be set or unmuted
> in conjunction (press "m" to toggle mutting). But if you use QAMix or
> KAMix, they are grouped in a more logical way and are easier to work with.
>

I'll have to look at that.

> KAMix is basically the same mixer as QAMix. It's just QAMix for the KDE
> desktop.
>
> Turning up the wrong control or unmutting the wrong control is a great
> way to make the card scream or cause infinte feedback loops.

The AC97 capture port is the culprit more often than not. It's also something 
to look at when distortion and mystery echo are happening.

>
> Momma don't like when the card screams. She says the card makes her ears
> hurt.
>
> Rocco